Microsoft, Jasper Partnering on IoT Platform OfferingMicrosoft is developing a suite of Internet of Things analytics and data-management tools that it will launch as part of its Azure cloud-computing platform later this year. This week, the computing giant announced a partnership with Jasper. The Jasper Control Center is a cloud-based software platform that enables businesses to manage networks of connected sensors transmitting data via cellular networks. It handles subscription billing, provisioning sensors, troubleshooting and more. Through the partnership, the firms are making the Jasper platform available through the Azure IoT suite. Jasper leverages agreements with 25 mobile operator groups, which represent more than 100 cellular networks worldwide, designed to make the process of commissioning IoT devices fast and easy for its more than 2,000 customers, which include General Motors, Garmin, ABB and TopCon, a manufacturer of positioning and guidance systems for large farming machinery.

Jasper already has similar partnerships with SAP, as part of its HANA platform and Salesforce's Customer Success Platform, designed to make it fast and easy for SAP and Salesforce customers to use Jasper's services as part of an IoT-based deployment.

IBM, CVS Health to Analyze Health Data from Wearable Devices
Retail pharmacy chain CVS Health, which operates 7,800 retail pharmacies and more than 900 walk-in medical clinics throughout the United States, has announced plans to use IBM's Watson cognitive-computing capabilities. The goal, according to a press release, is to help health-care providers to "quickly and easily gain insights from an unprecedented mix of health information sources such as medical health records, pharmacy and medical claims information, environmental factors, and fitness devices to help individuals stay on track with their care and meet health goals."

In a blog posting, IBM reports that data from consumers' home-monitoring devices and mobile apps will also be used.

The program's goal is to mine data from patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, in order for CVS Health and its partners, including insurers, to better personalize health-related products and services. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases represent 86 percent of the nation's $2.9 trillion in annual health spending.